Rulers of ancient Rome found that the Roman masses could be contained and pacified through a state-sponsored supply of food and entertainment—Rome’s proverbial bread...
Emperor Constantine V was the son of Emperor Leo III of Constantinople (r. 717-741), a ruler who brought much-needed stability to the Byzantine Empire...
This painting, attributed to an anonymous artist from the workshop of Filippino Lippi (c. 1457-1504), depicts two Muses—patron goddesses of arts, sciences and creativity—from...
Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."
From Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Bekker page...
Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)
"I have noticed that most people, after reaching a certain age, try to forget that they were ever young."
The Decameron (Second...
